Ski Touring in the Jotunheimen Part 2

Reinsdyrkaker and Head plants

8th to 16th March 2003

Saturday

Saturday was changeover day at Gjendesheim. After our jolly ascent and descent of Gjendehoe in the morning, the week 1 team returned to the hut for Trevor, Andrew and Mark to pack for the return home. The Oslo bus arrived bang on time with 4 eager skiers (but only 3 rucksacks, the 4th having succumbed to the Schiphol luggage black hole) ready for a week in the mountains. We had time to exchange gossip and tales of adventure before the time came for the week 1 skiers to leave. There was time for a quick excursion to make sure everything was ready and to work up an appetite.

Sunday

The missing rucksack joined us on Saturday night (I dread to think how much its taxi fare from Oslo was), so we were all ready to move on by 10 o'clock on Sunday morning - destination Gjendebu. The map shows this as a straightforward 18km at 984m along Gjende lake, thus completely flat. We set out into a moderate, chilly head wind with blue skies and good views. There was a thin cover of fresh snow and the wax was working well, making for fairly efficient progress.

We lunched off Memurubu, approximately the halfway point, and continued into the wind as the cloud thickened from the west. The flat going was becoming a bit monotonous, but there were regular spectacular frozen waterfalls to either side. Roland was slowing down with a painful shoulder, but managed to push on and we arrived at Gjendebu at 5:30 to find a hut all to ourselves. As James pointed out, it even had pillows. We set to work with the now familiar routine of lighting the stove, fetching and melting snow, brewing tea, selecting and cooking food (risotto & tinned stew glop!) and washing up.

Monday

Monday dawned overcast and warm (well, about 0°C). It was snowing big flakes of soft snow and these were being blown by a moderate breeze. We put skins on our skis and set off for Olavsbu; another self-service hut in a wild, remote location. It was only 15km, but uphill all the way with a climb of 460m. Alison took advantage of remnants of tracks made by a Norwegian guided group as we climbed steeply up Vesladalen. James took over as we turned NW into Rauddalen, with no tracks, but at least the route was marked with the usual DNT birch twigs.

We quickly ate our lunch in the lee (well not really) of some large boulders. The uphill slog continued and became more difficult as the snow became deeper and softer. I took no part in trailblazing as the pulk (sledge) I'd decided to bring to make life easier was doing just the opposite in the deep snow. As the route levelled, we all took the skins off to continue on grip wax, but my skins were soon back on as the pulk was creating too much drag. Eventually we reached Olavsbu at 6pm in fading light and were pleased to find a group of three Germans who were spending a second night there after a tiring ski in from Fondsbu.

The hut was lovely and warm, but the food supplies were rather limited. James & Terry had brought several spare meals with them, but Roland, Alison & I selected Reinsdyrkaker (meatballs made from reindeer) and mash. At Glitterheim I'd thought this wasn't too bad, but second time round wasn't too impressed and none of us could finish our (admittedly large) portion. We discussed options for the following day before retiring. Spiterstulen was 23km away with a couple of climbs, but mostly gentle downhill. Fondsbu was only 13km, again with a couple of climbs, but mostly downhill. There were several possibilities for a day tour.

Tuesday

James was first up and assessed the conditions; it was still snowing with low cloud. We'd already decided against Spiterstulen as the conditions were making progress too slow. The day tours would be much less inspiring in the murky, flat light conditions. We settled on Fondsbu and left at 11 o'clock after cleaning up. The Germans were also heading for Fondsbu as they had broken a binding and didn't fancy trying to get to Spiterstulen with it. The cloud was beginning to break and we gained some impression of the situation at Olavsbu, surrounded by 2000m mountains.

Our route took us steeply up and over a col, then down, gently at first, then more steeply to cross two lakes. We were putting skins on for the next climb when the guided Norwegian group came down the hill, heading from Fondsbu to Olavsbu. Over the next col we started our descent into Mjolkedalen, which would lead us to Fondsbu. The sun was finding gaps in the clouds and the views of the surrounding mountains and glaciers were stunning.

The valley had acted as a superb snow trap and we found increasingly soft powder snow with the occasional harder crust, just to add interest. On fat skis this wouldn't have been too bad, but the descents proved very difficult on our narrow touring skis. If you slightly weighted one ski more than the other, it would sink and keep on sinking. We were all demonstrating superb technique at face plants; these are made particularly impressive when carrying a large rucksack. Getting up again is very tiring. We tried Terry's rucksack on the pulk to make life a bit easier, but the pulk became top-heavy and kept rolling, so she had to take it back. We resorted to taking the slope off the hills by skiing descending zigzags with kick turns.

We gradually worked our way down into the valley and along another lake before having to put skins on for a short, steep, final climb. Darkness was descending and with 2.5km still to go we decided to keep our skins on for the final descent. Skins don't necessarily make the downhills any easier (when they do start to slide, they get gradually faster), but by carefully watching the slope, we could take a more direct line down the hill without losing control. With the light seriously diminishing, we reached the bottom of the hill and skied the final flat section to the hut. It was 7:30.

The Germans had been watching for us to arrive and let the warden know. I dashed inside and apologised for arriving late. The reply 'I guess you'll be hungry' was music to my ears! We dined on wonderful halibut and treated ourselves to a shower and a beer.

Wednesday

With 3 pretty gruelling days behind us, we felt like a bit of a rest. Rather than moving on again, we decided to do a day tour from Fondsbu. The weather was glorious and we fancied mastering the variable soft snow. Directly opposite the hut was a gentle looking slope leading up into Vennisstoldalen. We left the skins on and skied up this with wonderful views unfolding east over Bygdin lake and northwest towards the Hurrungane mountains. The westerly breeze was sufficient to cause the spindrift to swirl around and we spent some time watching it and the shapes it makes in the snow.

As the slope eased, we decided to turn round and enjoy the downhill run back to the hut. It was slightly easier with the smaller rucksacks and better light, but I would hesitate to say that we mastered the descent. We returned to the hut for a leisurely lunch, then went back out in the afternoon to try the hill again (with slightly greater success). Roland decided sitting around in the hut suited him fine. We were treated to another fabulous meal at Fondsbu and were becoming rather attached to the place.

Thursday

We had 2 skiing days left and had booked our return transport from Fondsbu (more about this later) prior to leaving the UK. Our options were to ski out to another hut (Gjendebu and Olavsbu were the only realistic options) or to stay at Fondsbu and do day tours. Out and back along the same route to a hut we'd already visited to dine on Reinsdyrkaker or skiing with light sacks and returning to the wonderful hospitality of Fondsbu. Hmmm…

A good, early start (09:30) in more glorious weather saw us taking the 'road' towards Tyin. This is only a road in summer, but a few vehicles (more about these later) are allowed to use it in the winter, producing a 'pisted' track, which enabled high-speed progress. We covered the first 8km in less than 2 hours. Skins were attached to skis and the hard work began - 270m to climb on soft snow with a variable crust. The views from this ascent were fantastic - looking down onto Tyin lake and the Hurrungane beyond.

We took skins off at the top and enjoyed classic undulating Nordic terrain into Stordalen. We skirted round Stordalsnosi keeping well clear of the well-loaded steep eastern slopes. Skins were on again for another steep ascent of 140m. We crossed a lake where the snow had a firm crust, which wouldn't support our weight and led to a lot of flailing about and spent energy. One last short climb led to Vennisstoldalen and a long gentle descent to the top of the slopes we'd skied the previous day. We were back at the hut by 4:30 - a superb outing of 23km. The food did not disappoint.

Friday

We agreed on a shorter route than that of the previous day, heading up Slotafjellet to the northwest - skins again. Alison was feeling decidedly below par and wasn't showing her usual enthusiasm. I wasn't feeling too good either, so we decided to take a shorter route back and let the others go on. We skied across the plateau to meet up with the route we had arrived by from Olavsbu. This brought us to the top of the descent we had done in the dark with skins on. The snow looked beautiful, but it was still very challenging to ski and we took several more falls. The others continued to Kvitevatnet, and then returned via the summer route, some exciting downhill and Tyinholmen - a total of 15km. Rather predictably by now, we were treated to a fantastic meal at Fondsbu.

Saturday

The day was to be spent mostly travelling back to Oslo. Alison and I felt the need for a fix of fresh air and leg stretching before the journey, so we skied part way along Bygdin and back. The first part of our journey was along the closed road to where it joined the main road. We were rather excited about this part as it involved taking the 'Beltebil'. We'd discovered these last year and this year's plans seemed to be centred on making use of one. A Beltebil is a 'Bombardier Snowmobile' - a 1935 Canadian-built beast with huge diesel engines, skis on the front and tracks on the rear. They will comfortably transport about 12 people and their equipment across the frozen wastes. It made short work of the 20 or so km to the road and the bus to Oslo. We'd been advised where to find good, not too expensive food in Oslo, so rounded off the trip in fine style.

The Jotunheimen left a strong impression on all of us and we'd all like to revisit in both winter and summer. We had to work hard for our rewards and we all had our difficulties, but pulled through as a strong, well-balanced team. The trip didn't quite turn out as we'd expected, but you have to build that flexibility into the plan as so much depends on weather and conditions. Above all we ate well (although Roland still claims to have lost 20lb) and had a lot of fun.

	Search this site powered by FreeFind
	Swaledale Outdoor Club